2017-10-11 05:19:45 UTC

"‘Stay A Little’, exemplifies a step in the new direction. I want to give as much as possible. Sing wherever possible. Contribute wherever and whenever possible. The music isn’t about if it fits my brand. It’s about if it fits my values. If it is coming from a place of love. This roller coaster has driven me to want to make more music, and share it with people who need a helping hand along their own journey. Now, the most important aspects of my life are love, community, sustainability, and wonder. Because life is a gift. And I want to appreciate it as much as I can. "

2017-10-02 03:22:48 UTC

The smouldering talent that is Leaone continues his rise with a new track ‘Livewire’ taken from his sublime EP ‘Wild Horse Ride On’, released through Fierce Panda this October 13th.

Leaone’s sweetly sobering and sombre tracks have already seen him compared to The National and described as the missing link between Leonard Cohen and Lana Del Ray. While, on his debut ‘Oh, My Sweetest Sin’, released this summer, Leaone found himself winning support from Huw Stephens on BBC Radio1 and the local BBC Introducing teams in Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as performing in support of Emmy The Great and Roddy Womble.

With his second EP ‘Wild Horse Ride On’ to follow this October, the troubadour has gathered another glittering collection of tracks for the release which have already won him fans including Steve Lamacq and Chris Hawkins on BBC 6Music.

With his new release supported by the Arts Council England, Leaone just keeps giving us a reason to come back, and the excellent ‘Livewire’ - produced by Pete Jarrett (who has written for Betsy and Lao Ra) - sets the perfect marker for the new release.

In the words of Leaone “the song is ultimately an apology for my sometimes fiery temper and a confession of my on-going love” and also features the Brisbane-based artist Leo Altarelli on trumpet.

‘Wild Horse Ride On’ is released on October 13th 2017 through Fierce Panda. Leaone’s first EP ‘Oh, My Sweetest Sin’ is out now.

2017-09-21 20:04:33 UTC

Maggie Szabo is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has been winning over audiences worldwide with her stunningly soulful vocals and empowering pop anthems. Hailing from small town Ontario, Szabo is now an accomplished musician living in Los Angeles and is using her music to conquer social injustice.

After quickly becoming one of the most sought-after songwriter/vocalists for DJs and notable film and TV placements, Szabo’s latest work has focused primarily on her solo project and was written in some of the most beautiful and exotic places on earth, including Greece, Amsterdam, London and Thailand.

‘Don’t Give Up’ is the first single off of Szabo’s upcoming EP, entitled Worthy. It’s a beautifully authentic and heartfelt song dedicated to transgender youth around the world who live in fear and suffer from rejection and exclusion. ‘Don’t Give Up' showcases an emotional rawness rarely found in music today, whilst addressing a subject which is imperative within today’s society. With soaring layered vocals, Szabo sings an uplifting and encouraging message of hope and acceptance. The single features a driving rhythm section and gospel inspired backing vocals, creating the perfect empowering anthem for those in need. 'Don’t Give Up’ was written and recorded in Los Angeles along with Stefan Lit (One Direction) and Chaz Mason.

The powerful and poignant narrative of ‘Don’t Give Up' is reflected in a exquisitely cinematic video, that follows a girl who is struggling with her gender identity and the pressures of conformity in high school. Szabo’s ultimate messages to fight for social justice and equality, “people are people, love is love. Society needs to stand up” professes Szabo. “I can’t stand by and watch millions of transgender youth live in fear for their safety, outcast from their homes and marginalized by society simply because they are struggling to understand their gender identity. I want to stand with them.”

Szabo’s successes to date include over 13 million views on YouTube, extensive media coverage from high profile outlets such as Perez Hilton, Yahoo Music!, PopCrush and Huffington Post, as well as being featured on multiple airline playlists and numerous notable film and TV placements. She recently was the featured vocalist on the album for German electronic DJ Schiller, who has so far sold 7 million albums worldwide.

With a quickly growing fan-base and a social media following that tops some of the nation’s most established pop artists, Szabo has effectively used the internet to showcase and market her songs to the world and her dedicated fans.

2017-09-17 19:45:35 UTC

If you’re one of the nearly 50 million people who have listened to Shoffy’s “Takes My Body Higher,” then you’re already familiar with his irresistible blend of electronic dance and indie-pop. The multi-talented and soulful singer, songwriter, producer and performer will criss-cross the country this fall, in support of his highly anticipated debut album, out on 9/15. "Fake Friends", featuring the vocal talents of Sidizen King, is a cut from that album.

"I produced this one, and immediately thought Sidizen King would be dope over it," Shoffy explains. "I first came across his "Don't Let Me Down" remix, and thought he had a really cool approach combining hip-hop elements with electronic/dance vibes.As far as production goes, I personally feel like this is one of my stronger beats, so I'm just excited to share it. I had a good time diving into the hip-hop side of things, which I don't do a ton of. On the lyrics and message - the song is about getting out of unhealthy friendships. There is a lot of superficiality, especially in Los Angeles, so just being aware of that when building new relationships is important."

Shoffy’s previous single, “Motions,” found the Los Angeles-based artist and producer diversifying his sound with the addition of a laid-back, bluesy guitar. Not only did Shoffy sing and play all the instruments on “Motions,” but he also produced, mixed, and mastered the track. "Motions" marked the first release under his newly founded label Otherground Records. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Shoffy has been writing and producing music since the age of 14, while singing and playing guitar since the ripe age of three.Shoffy’s first wide release – the aforementioned “Takes My Body Higher” – dropped in February 2016 as the first single off of his EP, 'conversations in the a.m.'. Featuring Lincoln Jesser, “Takes My Body Higher” has amassed nearly 50 million streams on Spotify and 27 million plays on YouTube. Additionally, the song remained on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic charts for 20 weeks, peaking at #19. Following the success of “Takes My Body Higher,” Shoffy released a seven-track EP called 'somewhere between nostalgia and paradise'.

2017-09-08 05:45:42 UTC

Chicago-based Floral Couches, the project of Cody Gray, released his new album Electric Fever in August. One of the album's highlights, “Ketamine Dreaming” is a nice display of Floral Couches’ late-night atmospheric development and knack for emerging, twinkling hooks — present here just past the one-minute mark, with twangy guitars entering the fold shortly thereafter.

Floral Couches' debut album came in 2016, with Not Quite Your Type. "I recorded all of it in a Logan Square bedroom over the course of a 16-month span and it was just a totally weird pop album. The cohesiveness was nonexistent but it was really just me experimenting with my own sound."

From there, Cody decided to pursue a more electronic-minded sound. Shortly, he had three songs written with synths and buzzsaw basses, and put them in a folder called "Electric Fever". That name stuck, and after a year Cody had his second album, Electric Fever. "I never had any plans to play live shows since i dealt with bad performance anxiety in the past and just didn't have any friends in Chicago to perform with. When I met my best friend Conor we just worked out how the hell two people could perform this stuff live and we've been performing for about five months."

Both tracks (as well as every other Floral Couches track) were recorded and mixed using only instruments and VSTs in Logic, including the guitars. "I was broke when I first started recording under Floral Couches and decided I was going to fully exhaust Logic of everything I could do with it before I purchased new equipment or instruments," Cody explains. "About half of Electric Fever actually has some serious track bleed on the vocal takes because while I was recording "Now You've Done It", my headphones broke and I couldn't afford to get another pair for a while. I was going to redo the vocals, but I liked the washed-out sound that it had produced and decided to keep them as is. "

Per Cody, "Ketamine Dreaming" is the only really sad song on the album. "A week before Christmas 2016 our dog passed away unexpectedly and I just totally lost it. I emailed my boss that I wasn't going to be going into work for a while and nobody saw me for about two weeks. When I was in high school and college I was dealing with peak depression and anxiety and I was absolutely coping by drinking myself stupid. I stopped drinking for the most part after college... During that two weeks of intense grieving I basically kept myself sustained on beer and cheese (I'm a Wisconsin boy at heart). It was the first time since I had graduated college that I was trying to just escape from what was happening in my life. I wrote the lyrics to capture that escapism mentality... "I don't need to feel pleasure/ and anything's better than this" was exactly what I had going through my head."

Recommended for musicians:

GroundBurst is an instrumental rock trio whose sound strikes for the band’s kaleidoscopic approach and wide-open mindset. The band consists of Phil, Si, and Erik, respectively on guitars, bass & keys, and drums. These three talented musicians set out to create a lush, diverse and textural musical backdrop, borrowing from influences as diverse as electronic music, psychedelia, rock and even jazz with a minimalistic flair. Their recent release, “Triad” is an EP featuring 3 original compositions, as the title of the release might lead you to guess!

These Are Truly The Last Days is a musical project with a driven experimental twist. Their music blurs the lines between various genres, including ambient, electronica, glitch hop, and more. The project’s self-titled studio effort features 11 studio tracks.